Hi, my name is Andy, 36, from Slovakia, Europe. I would like to warn everybody against (Name removed)
In September 2016 I started working for an agent based in Beijing, in December he made a one year working visa for me. After 4 months of teaching at an International primary school in the south of China, the school opted for a female teacher and my agent could not find me a suitable position, so I decided to leave Beijing. By sheer fluke I learned about a school in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province called (Name removed) They were looking for a foreign face very urgently. So (since I still had 8 months of working visa) I changed my plans and got to Xuzhou. The bosses were a married couple using English names (Names removed) (Name removed) was something like boss, (Name removed) was a teacher. They took me to the school. It was situated by a nice lake near on a pedestrian zone between two upscale neighborhoods.
The school was obviously new. They promised me 9000 a month for 25 working hours a week and a free apartment. The best thing was: „You don’t need to prepare your stuff. We have exact lesson plans. Just follow them!“ It was just too good to pass up so I said yes. The bosses said it was their third year in the city running schools, having started in January 2016. They said they had had two foreign teachers before. They said they had been really bad, cheating them, not teaching seriously. It is always suspicious when a boss says anything negative about your predecessors, but I did not take it seriously. When I started, the school had two students and we were busy getting new ones waiting outside kindergartens nearby. So I assumed the bosses used to run the school at some other place in Xuzhou. Otherwise, why start looking for kids? A school situated by a rich neighbourhood having been run for two years must be full of kids. But the bosses said they had always been there! Three years in the school by the lake. So why were they starting from scratch? Nobody knows. I asked people around, but nobody could tell me for sure the school had been there since 2016
Anyway, I started teaching the two kids, and we were getting new ones. I became quite famous. I ‘m quite comfortable with talking to new people and since I have been learning Chinese for 15 years, I soon became The Superstar of the community. All the businesses around, all the parents and grandparents loved me.
As usual, I had to be from an English-speaking country. I chose the UK, since it’s easier for me to speak with a British accent. Parents spoke highly of my performance and my super intergallactic teaching skills all the time. Some of them gave me their Wechat and used to talk to me. They invited me for dinners and brought food to my apartment! So I thought I was sitting pretty.
I told them that my visa was due to expire by the beginning of December 2017. My boss said he could get me a new one. I was to leave for Christmas anyway. I just had to put together the required documents and apply for a new visa back home. I was to come back by the end of February.
After National Day the bosses moved me out of the nice apartment, claiming the rent was about to expire. They found a small room without a working washing machine, no wifi, no sunlight. It took 40 minutes to get there from the school. The bosses said: „You will go home for three months. There is no point in renting a big apartment by the school. It will be throwing money away in vain.“ They did not mention any foreign replacement so far, so I thought it may have been true. “If we hire an another foreigner, parents might think you run away. But if there will be only Smile teaching, parents will be okay.”
The day I had to leave, I put all my stuff in two big bags. Some clothes, a swiss army knife, even 5000 RMB in cash since I was worried it might be a problem if they found it at the customs. There was no time to put it into my bank account. The bosses came to pick up the stuff saying: „See you in February!“
After I got home, some people from the neighbourhood messaged me: „They have a new guy, allegedly an American.“ The bosses did not reply. Since they did not confirm anything, I was not working on the documents needed for visa. I also found out the Wechat contacts of the parents had been deleted and blocked. Somebody must have touched my mobile device physically! The boss must have done while I was teaching the last day.
So I tried to ask directly: „How is everything? Can I count on you to hire me again?“ No answer. After my friend called them, they replied: „No, we don’t need you. Your stuff can be sent anywhere in China if you pay the fee.“
Okay, so my friend paid the fee and gave them the address they should send it to. The bosses started making up reasons why they could not actually send the stuff straight away: „We have to go to an express service headquarters physically, it is not so easy...“ Finally, after a week the stuff reached my friend’s place. No valuables, no cash, not even an expensive leather jacket I had there. The bosses said: „After you had left, we threw all your stuff away. Later we had to spend some money to get it back. Your loss is not our problem.“
No “sorry”. Nothing. I have no evidence, but the bosses probably kept all the valuables plus the cash. They may have found out the visa was not so easy to obtain somewhere in summer 2017. So they decided to use me while my visa was valid and get rid of me later. But if I don’t need somebody, there are lot of polite manners how to discuss it. I don’t need to lie to them, throw away their stuff and steal their cash!
So, that was my experience with (Name removed) If there is anybody right now in (Name removed) reading this, just be careful. Do not buy electric scooters, 2 year gym membership. You might be got rid of anytime.